AC Milan exited the Champions League in mid-February after losing to Feyenoord on aggregate, and a lot of fingers are pointed at Theo Hernandez.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) talk about a ‘gallery or errors’ and ‘seven minutes without logic’ for Theo, which is the symbol of a reckless season. He got his first yellow card on 44 minutes and the second on 51, putting his team in a difficult situation they were unable to prevail from.
Hernandez’s first yellow card meant would have missed the first leg of the possible round of 16 tie anyway. When the referee showed him the red card, he looked surprised and threw up his arms. Only after several seconds was he convinced to leave the pitch.
No one approached him for a gesture of comfort. Theo went down the steps of the San Siro pitch and stayed in the dressing room, the reflection of a listless, absent-minded player who is lacking in confidence and not channelling energy in the right way.
The list of errors
Beyond yesterday’s photograph, the gallery of horrors this season is long, starting with the errors in the first away match against Parma, after having remained on the bench in the first game of the campaign.
Then there was the rebellion in the cooling break against Lazio, another game he started on the bench after being so bad in Parma. His first red card of the season came after the full-time whistle against Fiorentina, when his protests as captain cost him two rounds of suspension.
He was at fault in the away match against Cagliari and Paulo Fonseca also excluded him against Genoa and Verona at the end of 2024. Only a clarifying conversation gives him back a starting place in the last match of the year against Roma, the one that led to the sacking of the coach.
Sergio Conceiçao took away the captain’s armband but not his starting spot. Hernandez remains the first choice left-back without raising his performance levels, and last night was the latest negative episode.
What the future holds
The latest blunders have cost Milan their place in the Champions League. The club are considering a fine, a possible – if not probable – option to punish the fact that he was sent off ultimately for a dive inside the Feyenoord box.
The question now is whether Theo will start on Saturday against Torino, but the issue is the lack of alternatives. Davide Bartesaghi is young and inexperienced, while Alex Jimenez is a right-footer who can play on the left.
Surprisingly, however, Conceiçao absolved him of blame: “I have known Theo for a long time and I know he can do much more, and so does his coach. The face of this elimination is that of Conceiçao, mine, not that of Theo. He has given so much to Milan.”
Here the coach speaks about the past though, not the present and certainly not in the future. It is unlikely that he will remain next season: Theo has a contract expiring in 2026 and negotiations for a renewal are underway but have never become that advanced.
It is also difficult to attract clubs willing to pay a high price, as shown in the winter window when the only concrete offer came from Como. Over €7m net per season was offered to the player, about €50m to Milan, and the no was from Theo, not the club.
Now the Rossoneri directors are just waiting for new offers, because story between Hernandez and Milan may have effectively ended here, on a cold evening in February.
But why not convert theo to RWF , and bring in a stronger left back. Theo has good attacking prowess but whats lacking is character
I’ve been saying that for a year now. He would be devastating (in a good way) in a more advanced role with less defending responsibilities.
But it’s too late now. There’s no fixing this. He wants his 10M€ (well, almost) while he’s performances say they should halve his current salary. It’s done. He’s done.
*his performances
He loses the ball every time he touches it are guys blind
Literally said this earlier in the season. In a 442 he would make a good left midfielder. Have a proper defending left back (maybe even Bart’s) play there and have Theo slightly further up but with enough space to make his runs 🤷♂️. Then he won’t be this big defensive liability. Either that or stick him at Center Back which for some odd reason he’s able to calm down and play effectively 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Yess I really bit agree with this. Sell leao and move forward Theo to LW. So Alex and bartesaghi have a room to grow. I think Leao must be sell this summer. Too much in comfort zone and you see , he always play with minimum efforts…
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”
It is time to renew his contract and not be a pu*sy like most of “fans” commenting here. Can’t wait to see the comments after that.
To be honest the whole thing is ridiculous. It wasn’t even a yellow card, let alone 2nd and a red card.
Reminds me of when people were trying to convince me that Shevchenko made a foul on Puyol and the goals was cancelled rightfully. It was theft, same as yesterday.
Wow, another bad comment.
Theo dived for a penalty. He wasn’t touched. That’s a yellow card offense. Always been.
Has nothing to do with Puyol tripping on himself in an era where there was no VAR. if there was VAR, Sheva goal stands. VAR or no VAR Theo dive is a yellow.
It isn’t. By your idea when you fall in the box and nobody is touching you it is yellow card automatically. Not true. If that was the case there would have been many red cards in the group stage or whatever it is called now. Not even a normal yellow card and 100% not a second yellow card. Refs sometimes don’t give players 2nd yellow for a bad tackle because it means a red card. And suddenly this is for the 2nd yellow. It is because you’re a pu*sy, yes, that is why you think that.
Trash comment. He dived, it’s a yellow.
You are 100% correct.
That’s not even a point. How are you missing the actual point???
He was already on a yellow – why are you taking a chance on a move so idiotic as to put your fate in ref’s hands???
Milan was being outplayed, had no disadvantages, they were dominating and was probably a matter of time until they scored a second…
Instead, you dive, get sent off for being the dumb@$$ that you are and your team suffers…
Megan Fox could have done a better job acting on that dive FFS…
At 27 year still playing football like an under 17….Theo will never do the rubbish he is doing in Ac Milan in the France national team…very amateur brain.
Come on man, I really expected more from you, why are you acting like a child ?
The reality is a dive equals a yellow, and the fact that most referees don’t give it is because Fifa is forcing the not to do it.
It’s a disgusting method of trying to obtain something false and Theo deserved the red.
I’m really disappointed on how we got out of CL, 30 years as a Milan fan and this is the situation we are in. Let’s hope for better.
It was 100% deserving of a yellow card. what was the ref supposed to do, let the dive slide? get real
100% a dive
Theo’s dive was obvious and is a a definite yellow card. Replays show it wasn’t even a remotely close decision.
He intentionally made a choice to do this, knowing he was already on a yellow. It cost Milan the lead, game and CL.
Not only was it a horrible decision by Theo but he cost Milan millions in CL revenue and he screwed over every member of the team playing the way that he played.
Milan has been trying to renew his contract but he wants money that he doesn’t deserve.
He can go at another club and ruin their season where fans are not pu*$$ies as you call Milan fans.
It is time to renew his contract!!!???
It’s time to void his contract.
Yes because you are proving you are a bi*ch. What else could I say? Thanks for proving it 🙂
Yup, that’s me.
While im the one that doesn’t look for ways to excuse and defend Theo’s b!*ch behavior and hold them accountable for his stupidity that cost Milan their UCL season.
You are absolutely right.
What else can i say.
What are you, five?
Pink hair needs to go, no room for f*gg*ts here
And time for this site to finally introduce the Block-button so we can get rid of idiots such as Igor here.
You think I like reading your bi**y comments? Oh Theo hurt my feelings today. Have you been crying all night and now you are really mad at him for making you cry?
I think you do. Cry? I’m not the one b*tching about how pathetic p*ssies all the Milan-fans here are. Look in the mirror. 😀 😀 😀
Yes, my comments saying that you are pu**ies that turn on their own when things go wrong is whining, but your actual whining about Theo, how he ruined your night, season what not is what? You are pu**ies, but you can’t even admit it to yourself hahaha. Thankfully Conceicao and Ibrahimovic are men, not bit**es like you.
And you specifically can’t wait for someone to play bad to write bi**hy comments about them. Next week Leao or Tomori, if Theo doesn’t play.
“And you specifically can’t wait for someone to play bad to write bi**hy comments about them. Next week Leao or Tomori, if Theo doesn’t play.”
Igor The True Fan to rescue, eh? You have always been there for every player, right? For sure, for sure. 😀 😀 😀
I don’t think I’ve written anything bi**hy about Tomori though. But I will if he deserves it. Like Theo does now. 🙂
No, I just can’t understand that so many of you are such NPCs that just follow the trend. But ok, you can’t do better. Have a good day.
void is a bit drastic. BUT i somehow feel Theo is going to go the way of Adrien Rabiot. Talented, yes, but asking too much, holding out for a bigger pay to end up making less at a worse club. IDK why i feel that way.
Theo did do something stupid at the first yellow. In another, it could be seen as a natural reaction to avoid contact and injury, rather than a simulation. The coach immediately grabbed his pocket, which means he was just waiting for him. Juventus scored two goals and won in Leipzig with one less player. When you have character, you can solve the match even with a lesser player, especially when you play with an inferior team. Conceicao has three matches to save the season (Torino, Bologna and Lazio), if he manages to take 9 points, then we can talk about a return, if not, then he is not capable of managing this team.
I don’t understand why Theo got his first yellow, grabbing a player and pulling him to the ground when there is no danger of a scoring opportunity seems pointless and unnecessary.
Tbh I think he tripped over unintentionally for his second yellow but this is a boy who cried wolf situation. Cause his done it before he got punished for it.
Anyways Theo messed up, the coach messed up and regardless we should be beating a team like Feyenoord considering the situation there in.
Sell him to Saudi Arabia, at this point that’s the only place that he’ll get even close to the money he wants.
With only one year left on his contract no club will sign him for anything over 50m. Milan will have to find away to renew his contract or extend it and at his age I highly doubt any club will go in for him this summer.
Like it or not Theo is staying at Milan and now the management and coach must find a way to recover the Theo of the past and that starts with signing a strong backup who can compete with him for a starting spot.
Maybe a dumb question, but why do players still dive and why is it a yellow card when they do? There is VAR now and the call won’t stand either way. The yellow card rule for diving seems outdated. It was a very harsh call, because it had an immediate impact on the game. The foul didn’t effect the results of the play and wasn’t dangerous. It didn’t need to be called especially when it combines for a red card. I think the ref got it completely wrong. They are supposed to regulate the game, not determine the results.
Jesus. It’s because players dive that it is a yellow and rightfully so. It’s deception; cheating and yes they all do it but if you are going to do it, make it look good, so that you don’t get a card… VAR has made it harder but that’s a flawed system too. Luckily this ref had reasonable eyesight and could see clear daylight between Mr Pink and the defender..
Before you get on your high horse, I think sportsmanship went out the window a long time ago in this sport. I can point to a million ways players cheat all the time and don’t even get warnings (grabbing in the box, falling down with a slight push to the back, grabbing players on breaks) By the way dragging players down on a fast break is now thought of as smart and tactically acceptable. These are all ways of cheating. What Hernandez did happens in every single soccer game, but most refs won’t call it. My only point is that there is no consistency in the calls and with VAR it’s pretty easy to get the right outcome.
He’s in the wrong proffession. Always has been. He should apply for a job in Hollywood. Or maybe Bollywood would suit him..
Im so effing tired of watching this big guy fall to the floor screaming in agony and rolling around after the slightest of touch..
Just get rid of him already.
Be strong Theo, every body make mistakes, just give your 100% for Milan. They should dump all director and advisor who always talking and disturbing coach and players.